Habakkuk 1:5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. -LORD God
Revelation 8:7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
This is the scope and scale of the first trumpet judgment. This event introduces the second third of judgments in the Tribulation. The context of the verse above is 1/3 of the earth… 1/3! 1/3 of the trees.
All green grass… If all of the green grass goes then you know all of the dry grass is gone.
This goes without saying, but this will result in a lot of smoke.
Currently (September 2020) we are not in the Tribulation. There has not been a seven year covenant with many brokered by the antichrist. There is no Temple on the Temple Mount for him to defile. We have not entered into the seven year time of Jacob’s trouble.
West Coast United States, September 2020: Wildfires on a massive scale continue to burn.
Photo: Copernicus Sentinel data 2020
As of September 11, 2020, a total of 7,718 fires have burned 3,175,523 acres, more than 3% of the state’s roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California history. -California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Over 1,000,000 acres have been torched in Oregon as of the writing of this post. Fires continue to expand.
Roughly 375,000 acres are up in flames in Washington.
Ezekiel 1:15 When I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.
Ezekiel 10:2 And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim.
These are Ezekiel’s whirling wheels. These creatures come from visions on the Kebar River which is in modern day eastern Syria. The Kebar eventually dumps into the Euphrates River.
Ezekiel 10:13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.”
Ezekiel has a name for these creatures and they are called “the whirling wheels”.
The Hebrew vocabulary of the term “wheels” is distinct and in some cases different.
As for the wheels… This is the Hebrew word “ophan” and it is translated as wheel. Ophan is the primary term used in Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10.
“…the whirling wheels..” This is the Hebrew word “galgal” and it can be translated as a wheel, whirl, or whirlwind per Strong’s Concordance. This term is used 11 times in the Old Testament. Within the context of Ezekiel 10, galgal is used 3 times (Ezekiel 10:2, 10:6, and 10:13). The term is translated as wheelwork or whirling wheels in these instances. It would appear these wheels are spinning and in motion, perhaps like a whirlwind or tornado.
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The construction of the wheel is described consistently in both Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10.
Ezekiel 10:10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel.
See also Ezekiel 1:16.
The color of the wheel is described as like beryl. This a yellow colored stone. The beryl is one of the stones identified in the high priest’s breast plate (Exodus 28:20). This stone is also associated with Satan’s appearance and covering in (Ezekiel 28:13). A human like being presents himself in Daniel 10 and his body is described like beryl. Lastly, the walls of New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 has beryl as part of its construction.
Ezekiel 1:16a As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel.
See also Ezekiel 10:9.
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Fire is located inside of the wheels.
Ezekiel 10:6a And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim…”
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The wheels are noted with eyes throughout the structure.
Ezekiel 1:18b …and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.
Ezekiel 10:12 Their entire bodies, including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes all around, as were their four wheels.
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Ezekiel 1:18a And their rims were tall and awesome…
The “rims” or the back of the wheels are described as grand in height and fearful to view. The Hebrew word “yirah” is used in this context. Yirah is also the same word used in the phrase “the fear of the Lord” or “the fear of God”.
These wheels would drop one to their knees in awe.
Numbers 19:5-6 And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. And the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer.
Before the third Temple will be built, a red heifer must be burned for purification. Rabbis at the Temple Institute have established qualifications for the red heifer as noted in Numbers 19:1-2. See the link below for the specifics.
Heifer burning practice has been initiated. Granted, the heifer was slaughtered outside of Jerusalem and not on the Temple Mount. So technically, this was not a sacrifice in the strictest sense. Below is an overview from an article published by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz at Breaking Israel News. See the link for more details.
The location of the burning of the heifer was on the Mount of Olives. The event lasted about 9 hours.
Professor Zohar Amar, Department of Land of Israel Studies at Bar-Ilan University made the following comments.
“A simulated experiment of burning a red heifer was conducted to investigate several research questions, such as: How much wood was required to burn a red heifer completely to ashes and how much ash actually remained after the burning? How is it possible that ashes from immolating one heifer, as it appears in the sources, can supply ritual purposes for many years?”
Photo: Zohar Amar
“The design of the entire experiment took many months, and the implementation itself was carried out far from the eye of the public and the media. Only after analyzing the results did it become possible to publish it. In the course of the experiment, all of the specifications mentioned in the sources were reconstructed, beginning with the excavation of a ‘winepress; a rectangular pit, in which the pyre was built of dried wood of the pine, oak, and fig trees.”
To be clear, a red heifer was not sacrificed.
“For the purpose of the experiment, a mature sick heifer was selected of the Baladi breed which was prevalent in ancient Israel.”
“A continuous and intense fire is required since the red heifer must be completely consumed, bones and all.”
Professor Amar indicated the following based on his research. A half-ton heifer would require 5.2 tons of wood, or five kilograms wood for every kilogram of flesh.
In the article, there are specific details regarding the size and type of wood utilized. The shape and construction of the pyre was noted. The placement of the heifer and orientation of the heifer were detailed. Notes were taken during the nine hour burning process. Temperature of the fire was taken (940 degrees Celsius). Amount of wood consumed was considered. The amount of ash produced was documented.
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Rabbi Azariah Ariel of the Temple Institute is in charge of the search for a red heifer.
“We still do not have a certifiable red heifer. We are currently checking out two calves of the Angus breed that are five months old. For them to be considered heifers, as the Bible describes, they must be two years and one day old. There can be no blemish, no holes in the ear. If two hairs are not red, the heifer is unfit. There are Halachic issues with them right now since a few hairs may not be the correct shade of red, though this may be rectified as they get older.”
As many Christians are acutely aware, animal sacrifices for sin are no longer required. However, these things are still prophesied…
Hebrews 9:22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
As the red heifer was and will be again sacrificed outside the city limits of Jerusalem, so was Jesus Christ. As the sacrifice of the red heifer is for the purification and consecration of the people of Israel, so was and is Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 13:12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
Christ’s sacrifice is not only for the people of Israel, but for all the people of the world. He is the sacrifice for all sin for all time.
1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Genesis 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
The Hebrew word for cherub is kerub: probably
an order of angelic beings (Strong’s Concordance).
A form of the word “kerub” is referenced 91 times in the Old Testament per Strong’s. The derivation of the term is unknown. Cherub is the singular form and Cherubim is the plural form.
The first reference of the word cherubim is noted after the
fall of man in the Garden of Eden. The context is that of judgment and
protection. Fire is associated with the context indicating purification.
What are the physical characteristics of a cherub? They have
wings and they can be a vehicle of transportation.
2 Samuel 22:11 He rode on a cherub and flew; He was seen on the wings of the wind.
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The Prophet Ezekiel probably provides the best eye witness account and physical description of cherubim in the Bible. Like the seraphim, cherubim are associated with burning coals. The coals purify and cleanse.
Ezekiel 10:2 And He said to the man clothed in linen, “Go
in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with
burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”
Cherubim have the ability to stand upright.
Ezekiel 10:3a Now the cherubim were standing on the south
side of the house…
Apparently, the wings of the cherubim are in constant motion
and the noise created is loud. Scripture tells us God’s voice is comparable to
rushing water or thunder.
Ezekiel 10:5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim
was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He
speaks.
Like seraphim, heat and fire do not burn cherubim. They also
appear to have hands like humans which are located under their wings.
Ezekiel 10:7-8 And a cherub stretched out his hand from
between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some
of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and
went out. The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their
wings.
The facial structure and appearance of a cherub is different than a human. They are unique in their appearance. This distinction is made in the physical description of a “whirling wheel” below.
Ezekiel 10:14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich…
Jesus is going to address the church at Laodicea on their terms and their self-perceived strengths. The believers at Laodicea offer humanism or an earthly solution. Jesus offers a heavenly solution.
Locally, the folks in Laodicea had a very extensive and wealthy banking system. The city minted its own coins. The coins had the likeness of Zeus, Apollo, and Aesculpius. They placed their trust in material wealth with the pictures of Greek gods stamped on their currency.
Christ is offering gold refined by fire. He is giving a little advice to the church. In order to obtain the gold, members are going to purchase with their earthly possessions and riches. The church at Laodicea is no different than the rich man who encountered Jesus earlier in His ministry.
Luke 18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
The gold Christ is offering has been purified by fire. The impurities or dross have been removed from the gold. Dross is an Old English word that means the scum produced when smelting metals. Dross is impure. Dross is removed from precious metals such as gold by the process of smelting with intense heat and fire.
Wickedness and sin are equated with dross in the following verses.
Proverbs 26:23 Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross are burning lips and a wicked heart.
Psalm 119:119a, You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross…
The lake of fire is the eternal destination of people who are not written in the book of life. Their sins have not been paid or taken away. They are impure like dross. Eternal fire and smelting will never remove the impurity of sin from humanity. An eternity of fire and Hell cannot cleanse sin from humanity.
Revelation 20:14-15 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Only the blood of Christ can wash away humanity’s dross and impurities. Christ’s shed blood is more powerful and cleanses better than fire. He is the one who purifies and refines. He removes the scum and the dregs.
1 John 1:7b …and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Titus 2:14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Make a choice. What is it going to be? True wealth does not come from earthly, material possessions.
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” -Jesus
Revelation 3:3b …If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
This phrase would have a special meaning to priests who stood watch at the Jewish Temple. The night watch was divided into three groups. There were 24 stations at gates and in the courts of the Temple complex. Each station had 10 men for a total of 240 night guards.
During the night, the captain would make his rounds and check on the guards. The catch, no one knew what time the captain would come for inspection. If a watchman was found asleep, he would be beaten or his garments would be set on fire.
Temple insights provided by: Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, Chapter 7 At Night in the Temple
We should pay attention to the analogy. As believers we will be kings and priests in the future. John makes the point in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 1:6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 5:10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.
The believer’s position of royalty and priesthood with Jesus Christ is confirmed later in the book.
Revelation 20:6…Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
See also Revelation 20:4.
Consider the course of the priest who was given the responsibility to stand watch. He fell asleep. He lost his clothes to fire. But, he was still a priest. He had to report to his superior naked. It was obvious what had occurred. That had to be embarrassing.
Shame entered the world with nakedness at the fall of man in Genesis 3. From this point forward, nakedness is associated with sin. Two of many examples are noted below.
Lamentations 1:8 Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away.
Isaiah 47:3 Your nakedness will be uncovered, your shame also will be exposed; I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.
As believers, do we want to stand naked before Jesus Christ? He shed His blood for us and clothed us in priestly linen garments to cover our sin. He is the High Priest and King. Jesus is our authority. Christ is going to know what happened and whether or not we faithfully stood watch.
Revelation 2:18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:
Jesus is connecting many dots with this initial statement to the church at Thyatira. He is identifying Himself with references to Scripture. There are three characteristics in the verse that point to the person of Jesus Christ…1) the Son of God, 2) who has eyes like a flame of fire, 3) and His feet are like burnished bronze.
The Son of God. Jesus Himself is identifying Himself as the Son of God. The idea that God has a Son is noted in the Old Testament.
Psalms 2:7 I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”
The Son is confirmed by the Father Himself in the Gospel accounts. One example is in Mark with John the Baptist in the Jordan River. All three persons of the Trinity are present.
Mark 11:1 and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
Even the demons know Jesus is the Son of God.
Luke 8:28 Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.”
Satan knows Jesus is the Son of God in Matthew 4.
…eyes like a flame of fire…One person in the Bible has these kind of eyes, Jesus Christ. This is His description at His second coming.
Revelation 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire…
John, the author of Revelation describes Jesus with eyes like fire.
Revelation 1:14b …and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
Daniel’s description of a man dressed in linen fit.
Daniel 10:6a His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches…
…His feet are like burnished bronze…
John describes the feet of Jesus in the Patmos vision.
Revelation 1:15a His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace…
Daniel’s description of the man dressed in linen (garments of a priest) by the river had descriptive feet.
Daniel 10:6b …his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze…
This is what Jesus is going to look like. Just add white hair, crowns, and a red robe on a white horse.
There is fire in Sheol. Deuteronomy 32:22a For a fire is kindled in My anger, and burns to the lowest part of Sheol…The rich man confirms this as fact in Luke 16:24 And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’
Sheol is not the Lake of Fire. They are different. Sheol/Hades is not permanent. It is a temporary holding place. Revelation 20:13-14 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Hades follows Death closely. One dies, then they go to the Pit/Sheol/Hades. Revelation 6:8a I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him…
We all have a set time and date with the grave. It does not matter what our bodies look like. One cannot diet, vitamin, or exercise their way from the Pit. It does not matter if you are rich or poor. One cannot buy their way out of Sheol.
Psalm 89:48 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.
Psalm 49:14 As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd; and the upright shall rule over them in the morning, and their form shall be for Sheol to consume so that they have no habitation.
Death always wants more and more. It is never satisfied. Proverbs 30:16 Sheol, and the barren womb, earth that is never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough.”
Proverbs 27:20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.
Habakkuk 2:5 Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man, so that he does not stay at home. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations and collects to himself all peoples.
There are consciousness and awareness of the inhabitants and Sheol itself. There are examples of this in Scripture in the Old Testament and the New Testament. While in the grave, King Samuel was contacted by a medium from Endor on behalf of King Saul 1 Samuel 28:11-15. The rich man Lazarus is clearly in misery, agony, and torment in Luke 16:19-31. Sheol itself was stimulated with the arrival of the King of Babylon in Isaiah 14:9 Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; it arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; it raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
Job 26:6 Naked is Sheol before Him, and Abaddon has no covering. The meaning of Abaddon is “destruction”. Sin is naked before God. In the final analysis, there is no covering of sin apart from the cross work of Christ. God has always made provision for the sin of humanity. Apart from God, sin will be exposed, bare, and raw. Its path leads to destruction. Proverbs 15:11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD, How much more the hearts of men!
Dross is an Old English word that means the scum produced when smelting metals. Dross is impure. Dross is removed from precious metals such as silver by the process of smelting with intense heat and fire.
The wickedness and sin are equated with dross in the following verses.
Proverbs 26:23 Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross are burning lips and a wicked heart.
Psalm 119:119a, You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross…
The lake of fire is the eternal destination of people who are not written in the book of life. Their sins have not been paid or taken away. They are impure like dross. Eternal fire and smelting will never remove the impurity of sin from humanity. An eternity of fire and Hell cannot cleanse sin from humanity.
Revelation 20:14-15 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Only the blood of Christ can wash away humanity’s dross and impurities. Christ’s shed blood is more powerful and cleanses better than fire. He is the one who purifies and refines. He removes the scum and the dregs.
1 John 1:7b …and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Titus 2:14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—
Isaiah 10:16 Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; and under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
There are three names or concepts of God mentioned in the initial part of this verse.
Adonai is the Hebrew term that is translated “Lord”. It can mean ruler, master, owner, or sovereign. The word is plural. When Adonai is the term for God, it indicates His absolute sovereignty and greatness (The Doctrine of God, Chester McCalley).
Yahweh YHWH (scholars refer to this as the Tetragrammaton, Greek for four letters) is the proper name of the Hebrew God of the Bible. The correct spelling is YHWH. Note there are no vowels in this term. Vowels from the name Adonai were substituted and the term Yahweh emerged. Jehovah is a word that has been translated to English from the Hebrew, Yahweh. The name for LORD is Jehovah. It means the existing one. This name is so sacred, Jews refuse to pronounce it. The name is first introduced in Exodus 3:14 when Moses and God are having a discussion. His name is a statement of existence. Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Lord of Hosts is a military term. He commands the armies or angels.
The king of Assyria has been informed who is in control and in charge of the situation. God is intentionally sending a nasty disease to the Assyrian army. This disease will affect the strongest and most vigorous of the troops, the fat ones.
… and under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. The Hebrew language is repetitive with this portion of the verse. Another loose translation could read …burn, burn, burn, burn! The last reference in the verse for flame is the Hebrew word ‘esh. One of the definitions for this word according to Strong’s is a supernatural fire with accompanying theophany. To the king of Assyria, fire is coming. Is this a hint of what is to come?
